A British businessman has launched a legal action worth more than £1 million against the UK’s largest water company, claiming a devastating moorland wildfire destroyed valuable grouse breeding grounds, killed wildlife and destroyed years of conservation work on his Lancashire estate.David Livesey, the former chief executive of estate agency group Connells, is seeking £1,034,600 in damages from United Utilities during the May 2020 heatwave, the Daily Mail reports.The High Court heard that two men allegedly started a fire on Darwen Moor on the evening of May 30 when they used a disposable barbecue to ignite dry vegetation. The fire spread rapidly in unusually dry conditions, ultimately burning approximately 630 acres of protected wilderness in seven days.Livesey owns the 300-acre House of Lords estate, which adjoins the affected land. He claimed that United Utilities failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the fire from spreading to his property, despite having the personnel, contractors and specialist equipment to help control the fire.According to his legal team, the company focused on protecting its land but failed to establish firebreaks or deploy resources that might have prevented the flames from spreading to his estate.The businessman purchased Lords Hall Estate in 2017 and has invested heavily in environmental restoration projects aimed at improving bog habitat. Thousands of native plants have been introduced and hundreds of dams and pools built to rewet parts of the marsh, court documents say.His lawyers argued that most of the works were destroyed by the fire.Livesey also claimed wildfires destroyed red grouse breeding areas, resulting in the loss of hundreds of nests and chicks, which were part of the estate’s sporting and conservation values.In submissions to the court, his legal team argued the damage could have been avoided if better fire protection measures had been taken and additional firefighting measures had been taken to stop the fire spreading north.United Utilities denies liability and fully contests the claims.The company argued that it was not the legal occupier of the area where the fire broke out because the relevant parts of Darwen Marsh were covered by an agricultural lease agreement. It also denies accusations that its response to emergencies was negligent.Lawyers for the utility told the court that decisions about where resources should be deployed were made by Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, which led the response.The company further argued that some of Livesey’s proposed fire safety measures were impractical, including suggesting that visitors should be required to formally agree not to light fires on the moor.Two men who started a fire over a disposable barbecue were given conditional warnings, a court heard. They were ordered to complete 150 hours of restoration work on the damaged moorland, including repairing walls, removing damaged infrastructure and helping to restore native vegetation.
